


Hidden In Plain Sight

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A new enemy even worse than HYDRA, But not by the Avengers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Eventual Relationships, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, HYDRA is destroyed, Hurt Steve Rogers, M/M, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Steve Rogers, Research, Smart Thor (Marvel), Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Teacher-Student Relationship, Technological Kink, The Avengers are confused, Thor (Marvel) is Not Stupid, Tony Stark Is Not Helping, Tony Stark needs help
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-08 20:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15251202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: HYDRA has been a threat ever since WWII and continues to be one till this day. But when the Avengers receive intel on the whereabouts of the last remaining HYDRA base, they jump at the opportunity to end HYDRA once and for all.But what happens when once they arrive, the base is already destroyed?





	1. Chapter 1

The Quinjet sped across the Pacific Ocean at hypersonic speeds towards Denmark, the location of what intel suggests is the last and most heavily armed HYDRA base.  
  
Inside the Quinjet were the infamous Avengers, all of them pumping up with adrenaline for the upcoming sedge and preparing in their own way.   
  
Clint sat in a corner folding and unfolding his bow continuously while checking on his arrows for what seems to be the 10th time, Natasha was sat in the pilot’s seat, quietly piloting the aircraft to their Scandinavian destination, Thor, clad in his Asgardian and equipped with his trusty hammer was standing with his arms crossed while he stared out into the vast expanse of ocean through the Quinjet's windows, Bruce and Tony were sitting on one of the many benches fiddling with a couple holograms while Steve sat opposite them, staring at nothing, eyes unfocused.   
  
Despite traveling at hypersonic speeds, the Avengers had been sitting on the Quinjet for over an hour, and signs of restlessness were starting to show. All of them itching to end HYDRA once and for all.   
  
“Nat, how much longer?” Clint asked for what must've been the 5th time the past 10 minutes.   
  
“We're just about to make it to mainland Europe. ETA 15 minutes.” Natasha replied monotonously.   
  
“Friends! Once we wipe the scum known as HYDRA off the face of this beautiful planet, we should celebrate our victory by inebriating ourselves with Asgardian rum!” Thor suggested excitedly.   
  
“Making ourselves drunk as hell? I'm in! But I'm not sure the good Captain here can even get drunk, so I guess he'll just have to miss out on the fun!” Tony piped up, not looking up from his holograms.   
  
Steve rolled his eyes. “I may not be able to get drunk but I can enjoy alcohol. And also, most people don't like the feeling of being so hungover that they can't get out of bed at 3 in the afternoon.” Steve said while looking at Tony, to which Tony just shrugged.   
  
“Do not fear Steve! Asgardian rum can make even the most tolerant to alcohol drop drunk after just a sip! I have doubts that you will be able to withstand the might of Asgardian rum as not even I have!” Thor reassured.   
  
“I'm betting 20 bucks that Steve will drop dead drunk after a tequila glass of that rum!” Clint said.   
  
“I'm betting 40 for 2 glasses!” Tony added.   
  
Bruce, who had kept to himself the entire journey, spoke up. “According to our and SHIELD’s intel, this is the last HYDRA base remaining. From what we know, it's armed with proton hovertanks, anti-aircraft plasma turrets, proton missile launchers, the last remaining HYDRA operatives all armed with plasma rifles and last but not least, a localised ion force field. So much more heavily armed than the previous HYDRA bases we've stormed.”   
  
“HYDRA must've been using that base to research and develop prototype weapons using the Tesseract and Loki's Sceptre.” Steve theorised. “It's also clearly their main base of operations.”   
  
“Basically the Bowser of HYDRA bases.” Tony rephrased. “So get your A game on, cause we got a princess to save.” To which they all nodded silently.   
  
The Quinjet remained silent for the next 15 minutes until Natasha spoke up, informing the rest of them that they had arrived.   
  
“That's strange, I'm not picking up any energy fluctuations that's usually caused by the ion force fields anywhere in the region. Our motion detectors also aren't picking up anything either. Furthermore, our thermal sensors are picking up higher than expected infra-red readings scattered throughout the base, the highest being located near buildings.” Bruce informed the rest of the team, slightly confused.   
  
“It seems HYDRA is up to something then, they may have lowered their force fields to lure us into a trap.” Steve suggested.   
  
“Even if that was the case Steve, the lack of any motion in the area is, strange, unsettling. You'd think there'd be regular patrols being issued like every other HYDRA base we raided, but according to this data, that doesn't seem to be the case here. The place looks… dead almost.”   
  
“Still, keep on your toes, this may very well be another of of HYDRA’s tricks. We can't afford to drop our guard.” Steve ordered in his Captain America voice.   
  
It wasn't long before they had a visual on the HYDRA base located in the snowy valleys of Denmark.   
  
The base looked like most HYDRA bases, with a central grey imposing complex, covered and surrounded in turrets with multiple smaller buildings located around the central complex. The only difference separating this HYDRA base to the rest, was that it was already destroyed.   
  
Giant black plumes of smoke rose from all of the buildings and turret emplacements. Hundreds of destroyed and burning hovertanks and armoured trucks were scattered across the base. Other than the growing and spreading flames, there ceased to be any activity in and around the base.   
  
“Well, at least we know why those infra-red readings were higher than expected.” Clint spoke up, disrupting the shocked silence the team was put in.   
  
“What happened here?” Bruce asked, shocked by the scene below them.   
  
“It seems to me that this HYDRA base was raided and destroyed before we got here by somebody else.” Thor said, suggesting what may have happened to the HYDRA base.   
  
“You really think that someone else got to HYDRA before we did? I don't know Thor, that raises more questions than it answers. Like, which other organisation has intel like us? We're the only organisation that has access to SHIELD’s more recent data on HYDRA. Unless some secret organisation somehow broke through our firewalls and defences and hacked into our servers to gain that information, there's no way anyone but us could know where this HYDRA base is.” Natasha replied, skeptical.   
  
“There is absolutely no way someone broke through the firewalls that I programmed and put in place myself. There's also no way that someone was able to hack into our servers without me and FRIDAY knowing. If what Thor says is true, the other organisation is getting information and data from a different source.” Tony said indignantly.   
  
“That can't be possible. What other sources would there be on HYDRA base locations that we don't already know about? The only other plausible option is that said organisation is getting the data themselves, which is highly unlikely since we haven't detected any suspicious activity happening across the globe for months.” Bruce added, also skeptical of Thor's theory.   
  
“Well, what other theories do we have on what happened to this base?” Clint asked.   
  
“Before we come to premature conclusions, we should land and inspect the base, maybe we can find some clues on what happened.” Steve told the rest of the team, who all silently agreed as Natasha lowered the Quinjet.   
  
Once the back doors of the Quinjet opened, the harsh winter climate was the first thing to strike the team before the smell of burnt metal and smoke permeated throughout the cabin of the aircraft.   
  
“Keep on your toes, there may still be a few remaining HYDRA operatives hiding somewhere. Don't let your guard down. Tony, you should go in the central complex, see if you can find anything through all the rubble, maybe even scrounge up some security footage so we can determine what exactly happened here while Natasha and Thor check the perimeter. Clint, you're with me. We're gonna stick to the smaller buildings and the paths, see if we can assess the damage done and if we can salvage anything of value. Bruce, you're staying here to guard the Quinjet in case any HYDRA operatives decide to test their luck with us.” Steve commanded, to which everyone just nodded.   
  
Tony quickly suited up and flew to the burning central complex. Natasha reluctantly let Thor carry her to the outskirts of the base while Steve and Clint set off on foot towards the nearest building, passing multiple obliterated hovertanks and a couple dead HYDRA operatives.   
  
“Damn, whoever did this, they sure know no mercy. These HYDRA operatives are well and truly dead. The new guys must've had a hell of a lot of firepower with them to be able to destroy HYDRA’s base this bad. With zero casualties apparently as well.” Clint observed while scrunching his nose up in distaste at the sight of the dead bodies and the blood-stained snow.   
  
They passed a couple more destroyed hovertanks until they reached what used to be a storage building. It's entrance was blocked by fallen debris and the flames were quickly engulfing the building, even spreading to nearby trees.   
  
“This building is a no-go. There's nothing inside anyways.” Steve said to Clint, who wasn't within hearing range of him, instead, Clint was kneeling and inspecting the damage done to one of the armoured trucks and checking the injuries of the few dead HYDRA operatives near it.   
  
Walking towards Clint, Steve asked. “Find anything?”   
  
“This truck has 75mm of reinforced titanium armour plating and armour-piercing-bullet resistant tires. It doesn't seem like whoever attacked this base did it with conventional weapons, that rules out practically every military on the planet. As I said before, whoever they are, they've got some serious firepower, their weapons penetrated 75mm of reinforced titanium like it was nothing.” Clint pointed out. Moving from the truck to a dead HYDRA operative, he then began inspecting the person closer. “From what I can tell from this guy’s wounds, the newcomers are using some form of energy or plasma weapons, since they're leaving serious burn marks on HYDRA's armour.”   
  
“Looks like these guy's firepower might even rival that of Tony's.” Steve added. “It doesn't seem like HYDRA was expecting this attack nor were prepared for it. There doesn't seem to be many signs that indicated that HYDRA put up a fight at all, whoever attacked HYDRA, they must've done it by surprise.”   
  
“Wait… But to be able to fool HYDRA's scanners, you'd need to have…” Clint began, realisation slowly dawning upon him.   
  
“Either Tony's cloaking technology or technology comparable to that of Tony's.” Steve finished.   
  
“You guys found anything yet? I'm empty, this building... is, uh, completely destroyed, anything that wasn't destroyed by the attack would've been burnt by now.” Tony's voiced sounded through the comms. “Though we've come across a tonne of dead bodies.”   
  
"Me and friend Natasha are empty as well."   
  
“We're empty also, the buildings we came across are completely inaccessible. Though me and Clint have been assessing a few destroyed armoured trucks and a couple of dead HYDRA operatives and we think we have some useful information on whoever did this.” Steve informed through comms. “Report back to the Quinjet, there's nothing we can scrounge up from here, everything's too busted and burnt.”   
  
Beginning their walk back to the Quinjet, Clint spoke up abruptly. “So, uh, heard you're bisexual, that's… cool. I guess. I mean, I'm not saying it's bad, being bisexual is completely fine, nothing wrong with that. Just, kinda weird for, uh, you to be bisexual.” Seeing the strange expression on Steve's face, Clint quickly tried to save the situation. “I mean, uh, I always thought you were ramrod straight, seeing as you're Captain America and… I'll just stop talking now.”   
  
Steve chuckled good heartedly. “It's fine Clint, I don't hold anything against you because you have an image of what Captain America is in your mind. If _you're_ this surprised, imagine how surprised _I_ was when I found out.”   
  
“Must've been a big shock for you. Seeing as back then, being what you are now wasn't socially acceptable. Must be strange for you to suddenly change from this being a taboo thing to something that people are fine with.”   
  
“Yep, sure was. And I'm still getting used to the fact that it's okay to be what I am and that I'm not diseased or broken in some way.” Steve confessed.   
  
The two walked in a comfortable silence for a few more minutes until they reached the area where their Quinjet was parked.   
  
“Hey slow-pokes, what took you so long? I think I earned a few more grey hairs waiting for you two to arrive.” Tony teased, smirking while leaning against the Quinjet with his arms crossed.   
  
“That's just because you're old Gramps. Happens to the best of us.” Clint teased back, shrugging as well.   
  
“Ouch, I'm hurt, you hurt me and it hurt. Didn't your mother ever tell you to respect your elders?”   
  
“She did, but she also said to ignore what she said if said elder was someone called 'Tony Stark’” Clint replied, earning an exaggerated gasp of horror from Tony, causing Steve to chuckle.   
  
“As amusing as this is, we've got a mystery to solve here.” Steve said, effectively stopping their bantering.   
  
“Party pooper.” Tony muttered, his grin betraying the nature of his words.   
  
“Only for you.” Steve exaggeratedly gushed, which earned a laugh from Tony, causing Steve to smile at the sound.   
  
Once they all entering the aircraft, the Quinjet's back doors closed and it took off back towards the Compound. 

* * *

As the Quinjet sped away from the HYDRA base in Denmark, the rest of the Avengers began discussing theories about what might have caused the complete destruction of HYDRA’s most heavily armed base.  
  
“I still firmly stand by the belief that someone else attacked the base and subsequently destroyed it. I believe that theory is the most believable in this situation.” Thor said resolutely.   
  
“But, like I said before, that raises many questions, as to how said organisation obtained such information on HYDRA. HYDRA doesn't simply post the location of its bases on the internet for the world to know. Also, it doesn't seem to me that the HYDRA base was attacked very long before we arrived there if the fires and smoke are anything to go by. I give the interval between the destruction of the base and our arrival a maximum of 30 minutes.” Bruce replied.   
  
“Even though Thor's theory has many flaws, it's the best we've got so far. So let's go with that.” Steve suggested to the rest of the team, and the response was mixed.   
  
Clint and Tony seemed onboard with the theory, but both Bruce and Natasha seemed skeptical.   
  
“Friend Steve and Clint! Maybe you should share the information you claim to have obtained in your investigation of the armoured trucks and dead HYDRA operatives. Maybe then, friend Bruce and Natasha will no longer be skeptical of my theory.” Thor boomed.   
  
“Okay then. What me and Clint found wasn't exactly clean-cut evidence on what exactly happened, but we did manage to deduce quite a few things.” Steve explained. “First of all, we deduced that Thor's theory is most likely true, mainly due to the fact that there's no other plausible explanation to what happened at the HYDRA base that would make sense. Secondly, the armour platings on the armoured trucks were 75mm thick reinforced titanium plates. Whoever attacked HYDRA, they have some serious firepower to be able to do this much damage to such heavily armoured vehicles. Clint also deduced that whoever it was that attacked the base, their weapons were mostly likely plasma or energy based. So that rules out any militaries being the culprit.”   
  
“Plasma or energy based weapons? Other than HYDRA and the Avengers, no other known organisation uses those kind of weapons, they don't have the available technology to be able to develop such weapons. And the only reason why HYDRA was able to develop such weapons is because they had access to the Tesseract and Loki's Sceptre.” Natasha piped up from the pilot's seat.   
  
“Yes, but it's undeniable that they used plasma or energy weapons, all the HYDRA operatives had severe burn marks on their armour.” Steve said. “It also seems that HYDRA was neither anticipating the attack or were prepared for it either, unlike with our attacks. There's no evidence that HYDRA even put up a fight with the newcomers. This is most likely due to the newcomers catching them by surprise.”   
  
“That's impossible! HYDRA's scanners are extremely difficult to fool, the only cloaking technology that's been proven to work against them is mine!” Tony yelled incredulously, some would say he was overreacting. “I've never introduced that type of cloaking technology to the public at all. I've only ever installed that technology into our Quinjet's and a couple of my suits. There's no way someone could've had access to it, let alone use it.”   
  
“Either whoever did this somehow gained access to your cloaking technology… or they developed cloaking technology comparable who your own Tony.” Steve finished.   
  
The rest of the team were shocked into silence. Not believing that there might be someone else with technology that's just as advanced as Tony's.   
  
Recovering from his stupor, Tony immediately brought up multiple holograms and began typing radiply on his holographic keyboard while barking commands towards FRIDAY through his earpiece.   
  
“I thought that friend Tony's technology was the most advanced this planet had to offer? Are you saying that there is someone else we don't know about who can rival our friend Tony in technological prowess?” Thor questioned.   
  
“I don't know buddy. We think so, but we've got to keep searching to know for sure.” Steve answered while putting a hand on Thor's muscular shoulder.   
  
“Maybe Tony had left one of his suits in a battlefield due to it being damaged beyond repair. Whoever did this may have salvaged the armour and reversed engineered it.” Natasha suggested, though even she seemed doubtful of this.   
  
“Nonsense, any suits that are damaged beyond repair in the battlefield are sent back to the Compound where it's stripped for materials. I don't simply leave suits out in the open for god knows who to come across and 'reverse engineer’.” Tony scoffed.   
  
“According to our motion sensor logs at the Compound, there hasn't been any movement beyond Mach 1 across the planet for an entire week. This means that whoever attacked the HYDRA base was well within distance of it beforehand or has cloaking technology that's able to mask their true speed from our motion sensors.” Bruce added into the conversation, abruptly causing Tony to immediately keep still as his eyes widened.   
  
“Tony? What's wrong?” Steve asked, worried now.   
  
“I… I haven't managed to develop cloaking technology that masks an object's true speed yet…” Tony said slowly, cautiously.   
  
“You're telling me that not only do they have technology to match our own, they have even more advanced technology?!” Clint exclaimed incredulously.   
  
“It seems so.” Bruce replied, surprisingly calm.   
  
“Have you considered the fact that maybe our newcomers may be extraterrestrial? We have not yet discerned that they are from this planet. So I advise it is best to keep our options open.” Thor piped in.   
  
“I agree, whoever, or whatever they are, we'll need to be open about this. We're venturing into unknown territory here, so we better tread carefully from here on out.” Steve spoke up, voicing his agreement.   
  
“Ughhh, I can't work here, there's not enough data on the servers onboard this thing. I'll need to return to the Compound to further my search.” Tony groaned out in frustration.   
  
“Well, you should get some rest then, all of you. We've got a long journey ahead of us.” Steve suggested thoughtfully.   
  
“Tell me about it.” Tony muttered, agitated.


	2. A New Recruit?

After arriving back at the Compound, Tony quickly disappeared downstairs into his workshop while the rest of the Avengers all slowly filed back into their rooms to loosen up.   
  
“Hey Cap, have you been hearing about this kid from Queens? Apparently he has some weird spider superpowers and Tony's been going on and on about him lately. He's hoping to recruit him as the newest Avenger.” Clint asked.   
  
“Kid? How old are we talking?” Steve enquired, suddenly curious as to what make this kid so special as to take the attention of none other than Tony Stark.   
  
“He's 16… Still studying in some high school in Queens.”   
  
Steve whirled on Clint. “16?! And Tony is thinking of making him an Avenger?! Superpowers or not, we are not recruiting teenagers. Not only are they reckless, the press will have our heads once they know we’re supposedly bringing children into the battlefield.” Calming himself down, Steve continued. “Does his parents know that he has superpowers?”   
  
“From what I heard from Tony, his parents are dead, he’s currently living with his aunt, his uncle is also dead.” Clint informed sympathetically. “His aunt doesn't know he has powers.”   
  
“Name?”   
  
“Peter, Peter Parker. Go search him up. Maybe you'll find something useful to change your mind, else you're gonna be the one to break the news to Tony, cause there's no way in hell I'm doing, or anyone else for that matter. The screaming matches can stay between you and him.” To which Steve rolled his eyes dramatically as Clint walked away.   
  
With Clint and the remaining Avengers on their way to their rooms, the steady sound of footsteps slowly faded away until the permeating through the hallway was an eerily silence and Steve's even breathing.   
  
Steve never liked silence, reminded him too much of danger and ambushes during the war.   
  
Which is why Steve found himself in the common room lying on the couch with a hand on his chest, still in uniform, listening to Michael Jackson's  _ Bad _ .   
  
He didn't know why he suddenly chose to listen to Michael Jackson, maybe because Clint and Tony had told him to. Despite being awake in the 21st century for over 4 years now, with 4 birthdays all arranged by 4 different members of his new 'family’, and Tony had yet to arrange a birthday for him, and boy, wasn't he just  _ waiting _ for that? Steve still has a lot to catch up on, but at least now he can understand most of Tony's references, apart from the most obscure ones from something everyone's caring 'anime’, which he has yet to delve into.   
  
Sitting upright, Steve contemplates about the event from this morning and about what they're going to do next. He doesn't realise how long he just sits there, as still as a statue, staring at nothing in particular until Natasha speaks up from the doorway.   
  
“You've been sitting there and doing nothing for nearly 30 minutes Steve. What's up?”   
  
“It's just that, I'm tired.”   
  
Natasha, being the spy she is, doesn't usually get surprised by much, but this however, did. “Tired? Of what?”   
  
Steve sighed to emphasise his point. “This… We're finally rid off HYDRA, but instead of being free, another has taken its place. It seems we're just stuck in an endless cycle of evil. Eradicate one, another more malicious one pops up to replace it. I'm just… tired... The longer we keep this up, the higher the chance that something's going to happen to one of us, and then, we'll all have to pay the price.”   
  
Not having something to say about that last part, Natasha pointedly ignored it. “Steve, we don't even know if whoever destroyed HYDRA is bad or not. They may be good, we just need more data and evidence.”   
  
Steve shook his head in disagreement, he's seen enough to know better than that. “If whoever attacked HYDRA was truly good, why were there dead bodies everywhere? Why did they destroy all the buildings instead of salvaging for data in HYDRA’s data banks? This isn't a case of justice, this is a case of another organisation getting rid of the competition.”   
  
“Steve, killing people to achieve a moral and justified goal isn't evil.” Natasha replied.   
  
“You'd know, wouldn't you?” Steve snapped, a little too harshly.   
  
“Yes, I would. Which is why I'm doing what I'm doing, to make up for my past mistakes.” Natasha answered calmly, then abruptly left.   
  
Steve only sighed, exhausted, as he dragged himself back to his room.   


* * *

Mornings at the Compound are usually pretty uneventful. Well… As uneventful for a team of superheroes can get.

Bruce is always the one at the kitchen with Natasha occasionally helping out, mainly because they're the only ones that can safely cook, Clint and Thor somehow always find  _ something _ to argue about, whether it's about Asgardian sports against Earth sports or cereal before milk. Steve usually just sits quietly on the couch, drawing the scene infront of him, which, fortunately for him, is never the same. By the time food is finished, Tony usually strolls into the room to grab his daily cups of coffee.   
  
_ Usually _ . Some of the time, though, Tony isn't to be seen until late into the afternoon. The cause of this is usually him working on some projects or dozing off due to exhaustion from lack of sleep because of a project.   
  
And Steve, to say the least, is not happy with this, at all. Whenever this does happen, Steve stomps down to Tony's workshop, punches in his emergency override code, which Tony has yet to disable, and begins scolding Tony for his adolescent behaviour. Which  _ always _ ends in a screaming match between the two.   
  
By now, the team is used to this. So whenever Tony  _ doesn't _ appear for breakfast, they usually know what's going to happen.   
  
“Looks like Tony isn't coming up for breakfast today. Nat, you owe me 20 bucks.” Clint said smugly as Natasha slapped a $20 bill onto his outstretched hand.   
  
Steve, sighing loudly, clearly quite fed up and frustrated with this behaviour, said. “I swear, he never listens to  _ anything _ I say. Unbelievable.”   
  
Standing up, Steve made his way down to Tony's workshop, internally preparing himself for the argument that was for sure to come. Punching in the same override code, Steve entered the workshop.   
  
“Tony… Seriously, I can't keep doing this. You  _ need _ to stop pulling all-nighters, it's not good for your health, especially for someone your age.” By now, Tony would've piped up and accused Steve of insulting him, but surprisingly, he hasn't. “I know you're a workaholic, but that's no excuse for you to work yourself half to death. On top of all that, you need to get actual food in your system, not your idea of a 3 course meal that is completely comprised of chocolate bars.” Steve reprimanded, exasperated.   
  
The silence following that was uncomfortable to say the least, even the sounds of Tony working stopped at some point, indicating that, yes, he did hear what Steve said.   
  
“You're right. You're right, and I'm sorry for ignoring your advice, you only want what's best for me, well, at least I think/hope so.”   
  
_ Ha! Oldest trick in the book. Sorry Tony, but you aren't fooling anyone. _ __   
  
“Okay Tony, I've known you for too long to fall for a trick as simple as this.”   
  
“No, I'm serious. I've been ignoring the signs and side-effects of my behaviour for far too long. Now it's getting harder and harder to continue doing that. So, however unbelievable it may seem, I'm actually going to listen to you and follow your advice.” Tony answered, nothing but the truth in his voice, even at Steve's raised eyebrow. “Why the doubt Cap?”   
  
“Can you blame me? We've been at this cycle for well over 2 years now with you and I arguing everytime I come down here to remind you to treat your body right.” Steve paused, scanning Tony's face for any sort of reaction, for which he found only a small smile directed his way. “And now, you're suddenly  _ agreeing _ with me instead of screaming at me. So I think I'm entitled to some skepticism.”   
  
Slowly powering down his holograms and equipment, Tony said. “Hmmm, I can see where you're coming from, and so your skepticism is more or less understandable. But…” Tony kneeled down to lift something apparently quite heavy off the ground, if his grunt of exertion was anything to go by. “If it makes you feel any better, the project I've been pulling all-nighters for is actually for you.”   
  
If it were anyone else, they'd be ecstatic to know that Tony Stark had gone out and made something for them, but not if you're Steve Rogers. He knew from experience what that  _ actually _ meant. “Tony, I don't want to be another one of your test dummies for your new repulsors or to test the effectiveness of your new tank missiles.”   
  
Tony placed a large black rectangular suitcase on the table infront of him with groan. The suitcase had the iconic Stark Industries logo emblazoned on its smooth surface, but other than that, the suitcase looked rather ordinary.   
  
“Now I know this suitcase may not look as extravagant as any of my other stuff, but I'm 80% sure you'll love what's inside. Plus I kinda followed your vibe of having things be simplistic and lame, so here you go.” Tony patted the top of the suitcase in appreciation of his handiwork. “As much as I would like to see your reaction to what's inside, I gotta take a shower and get some sleep now, so I'll see you in a bit.” Tony said as he walked towards the door.   
  
Steve, shocked as he was, could only stare wide-eyed at Tony as he walked towards him and to the door. Both surprised by Tony's actions in the past few minutes and still slightly skeptical this was all a prank.   
  
“By the way, feel free to take the suitcase back to your room so you can have some privacy while you open it, I won't peak, I promise.” And just like that, Tony was gone, leaving Steve alone in the workshop.   
  
Both curious to see what Tony had made for him and reluctant to see what Tony had planned for him, Steve had an internal debate with himself.   
  
In the end, curiosity won out and Steve found himself staring straight at the Stark Industries logo on the suitcase.   
  
Before he could have doubts and talk himself out of it, Steve took the surprisingly heavy suitcase and ran back to his room, locking the door behind him.   
  
Placing the suitcase on his bed, Steve found himself hesitating to open it, suddenly no longer wanting to know what was inside. Seeing as the last time Tony gave him something, it shot him up 25 metres into the air and left him with a couple broken bones.   
  
_ Come on Steve, you fight aliens, terrorist organisations and demi-gods for a living and you're afraid of breaking a couple bones?! _ Steve chastised himself internally.   
  
Filled with renewed determination and indignation, Steve pressed the button to cause the suitcase to slowly open up.   
  
As it did, Steve's eyes slowly widened and his breath was caught in his throat as he took sight of the contents of the case.   
  
Inside the suitcase, there was a holographic note and a set of armour. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the blue, red and white colour scheme meant, Tony had made him a new uniform.   
  
Unlike previous uniforms where Tony kept the materials rather simple and similar to the ones used when SHIELD and Howard had made Steve suits.   
  
This time, Tony opted to use some sort of infused fabric instead of his reinforced Kevlar, which might explain why the blue of his new suit was a bit darker than his current and previous ones, being more similar in colour to the stealth suit SHIELD made for him back when he still worked for SHIELD.   
  
Not only was the blue different, so were the red stripes across the lower abdomen area of the suit, it too was also darker in colour. Which Steve found he quite liked.   
  
The star in the middle of all of it also seemed to glow, much like the power core of Tony's suits.   
  
Directing his gaze to the holographic note on the side, Steve read it.   
  
_ Hey Steve, _ __   
__   
_ By the time you've begun to read this, you'd have already seen what's inside the suitcase. I know, a new suit, big deal. This is the third suit I've made for you now, and in typical me-fashion, it's the best. _ __   
__   
_ Now I know you may be wondering what the hell is up with the darker colours, well, you see, I kind of had trouble making the materials become the correct shade of blue and red like those of your previous suits, so you'll have to deal with these shades for now. The reason for said difficulty is because, as I'm sure you've figured out, I've used a different base material for the uniform. Instead of just plain old reinforced Kevlar, this suit is made of vibranium infused Kevlar. _ __   
__   
_ Pretty cool right? The stuff your shield is made of, your uniform is too, to a certain extent. I couldn't exactly make your uniform entirely out of vibranium because, well, I don't have that kind of vibranium and it'd be really stiff if it was. _ __   
__   
_ I've also added a couple different cool abilities to your new suit as well. You know the shield holder on your back? Your new suit still has that, of course, but it also has an in-built jetpack that also works even when your shield is on your back. Come down to the workshop to get some lessons on how to fly with it, I swear on my love for coffee that you won't get more broken bones. _ __   
__   
_ Not only that, I've put some mechanics into the sleeves of the suit that give you 50% more power on your shield throws. That coupled with your super strength means that, by my calculations, you'll be able to cut straight through 3 metres of reinforced steel. _ __   
__   
_ If you want to know the full extent of my upgrades, you can come down to the workshop some time and I'll show you them all. _ __   
__   
_ I really hope you like this new suit, worked my ass off on it, but hey, anything to keep my friends safe right? _ __   
__   
_ Lots of love, Tony. _ __   
  
Steve sat down on the bed, and looked beside him to the suitcase, feeling an immense sense of gratitude at not only having Tony on the team for his amazing contributions to it and helping them stay and work together, he was also grateful to have Tony as an ally and most importantly, a friend.   
  
Though they may have had a rough start, thanks to Loki's Sceptre, Tony Stark proved to be nothing like what news articles and the media said, what the media said was only the first impressions of Tony Stark, sadly, Steve himself had fallen for those lies.   
  
But once he had gotten to know Tony better, Steve realised his initial perception of his teammate was entirely wrong. Tony wasn't a self-centred, irrational and uncaring person, instead, he was much the opposite of that. His devotion to the team, to him and the other Avengers was astonishing, and his fierce love for those who cared for him and were his close friends and family was endearing.   
  
His countless upgrades to the Avengers equipment and the numerous gifts he gave celebrations he held for each and every one of his close friends and family was a testimony to that.   
  
Steve was thankful for all the things Tony has done and most likely will continue to do for him, but what he was most grateful for, was Tony's friendship. And he'd make sure Tony knew that.   


* * *

“I must disagree with your theory friend Natasha. I highly doubt that HYDRA’s members waged a civil war with each other considering there has been none in their long history.” Thor countered.

Natasha shook her head, still unwilling to accept the idea that someone destroyed HYDRA. “There's a first time for everything Thor. HYDRA has had many different leaders throughout the years thanks to our intervention, and with different leaders come different agendas. However, the agenda of the organisation may not line up with the agenda of its members, and with a fast changing agenda, it's only logical that, eventually, a civil war would break out.”   
  
Clint stood up from his seat to face Natasha. “But isn’t HYDRA's agenda just absolute control? That's what it was back during WWII and thanks to the incident with SHIELD and Washington DC, it hasn't changed since then.”   
  
“That's their main agenda, but not their only one. Other agendas might include research and development into new weapons or the development of a new super soldier serum. HYDRA has multiple agendas, but it can't do all of them.” Natasha informed. “I believe that the most plausible solution is that a civil war broke out between different HYDRA groups when they were all grouped up in the same area, and so they wiped themselves out. You can't just assume that some other organisation came in and destroyed them.”   
  
“Natasha's right.” Which prompted everyone in the room to look at Bruce, who didn't squirm underneath the scrutiny. “Just because we have an unsolvable equation infront of us with a certain amount of variables in it, we can't simply add in another variable that will fix everything just like that, that's not how it works. We have to use what we have and try to come up with the most plausible solution using those variables and information.”   
  
Bruce sat down on one of the bar stools and leaned on the counter. “For your theory to be correct, we'd have to assume that somehow, said organisation has access to extremely powerful weaponry that can penetrate thick armour, have vehicles or aircrafts that can travel at extremely high speeds, a cloaking technology that's able to fool our sensors  _ and _ someone smart enough to create all that.”   
  
“What other option do we have? We have no concrete evidence, no idea of what even happened, and very few leads. The only leads we even have are the damage done to the equipment and armour.” Clint said, frustrated while waving his arms frantically.   
  
Before anyone could say anything else, the elevator doors pinged open, revealing a very happy and relaxed Steve Rogers.   
  
Raising an eyebrow at Steve's sudden change in behaviour from when they came back from Denmark, Natasha asked. “Well, you look happy today. What's up this time?”   
  
Opening the fridge to get a bottle of orange juice out, Steve answered. “Tony made me a new suit. Apparently it's made of some fancy infused vibranium material and has some abilities that I'm excited to test out later.”   
  
“What?! Tony made you a new suit and yet he didn't make me a new set of arrows?! This is preposterous!” Which earned a light-hearted chuckle from Steve.   
  
“Hmmm. That's nice of him. Say, where is he now?”   
  
“Tony’s asleep right now, probably in his room.” Steve answered matter-of-factly, laughing at the faces Clint and Bruce made. “I know, hard to believe right? He even  _ agreed _ when I told him he couldn't keep pulling all-nighters and not eat properly or sleep!”   
  
“Steve, I see you're taking from the master, because your jokes are getting better.” Clint said.   
  
“No, Tony is actually asleep in his room. Right JARVIS?”   
  
“Yes Captain Rogers. Mr Stark is currently sleeping in his room.”   
  
“Alright, I don't know what's weirder, the fact that HYDRA’s base suddenly got destroyed by someone other than us or the fact that Tony agreed with Steve on  _ anything _ and is also actually sleeping right now.”   


“First time for everything.” Natasha said.   


After that, everyone seemed to accept Tony's strange behaviour as an anomaly and resumed their discussion on HYDRA.   
  
Bruce walked to the floor to ceiling windows and stared out, blocking out the debate going on behind him between his teammates, until something caught his attention.   
  
“Uhhhhh, guys? Are we expecting someone?”   
  
“No? Why?” Steve answered, confused.   
  
“Because a car just is pulling up right at our front stairs and a teenager just walked out of it.”   
  
“Teenager? What business does a teenager have that requires his presence at the Avengers Compound?” Thor asked.   
  
Having a good idea of who it is, Steve began walking to the front doors as he spoke up. “I'll go meet him, find out why he's here.”   
  
Walking through the door that led to the main lobby, Steve found the kid wandering around aimlessly, seeming almost intimidated by the walls of the building itself. Making the kid seem even smaller than he was compared to Steve.   
  
The kid didn't seem to notice him approaching nor did he seem to hear him approach if his earphones were any indication, but as Steve got closer, the teen abruptly stopped his wandering and slowly turned his head towards Steve's direction.   
  
_ Hmmm, interesting. _ __   
  
As soon as the kid saw Steve, he was left speechless, mouth wide open like a complete dope, which prompted an amused smile from Steve.   
  
“Hello and welcome to the Avengers Compound. If I'm not mistaken, you must be Peter right? Peter Parker?” Steve greeted kindly, outstretching his hand in an offer of a handshake.   
  
“I… Uhhhh… Hi… Yes, I-I'm Peter Parker…” Peter stuttered, clearly shocked as he gestured wildly. “And you're C-Captain America… Oh my god…  __ The Captain America is infront of me… This is amazing.”   
  
Steve chuckled at Peter's behaviour. “Yes, I am the one and only Captain America. Now, would you tell me why you're here Peter? This isn't exactly a place for 16 year-olds.”   
  
“Right. Uhhhh, I'm here because Mr Stark called me to come here a few weeks ago.” Peter answered, still weary he was talking to a literal superhero and national icon. “For my Avengers recruitment training.”


End file.
